The invention relates to a device for connecting an item of equipment and two cables one of which carries electrical data and the other of which carries pneumatic data. The invention finds a particular use in connecting an anemometric/barometric probe mounted on the skin of an aircraft. This type of probe takes pressure measurements from the air surrounding the aircraft using pressure tappings situated on the probe and sensors situated inside the aircraft. In order to connect the pressure tappings to the sensors, the probe has a pneumatic socket into which is plugged a pneumatic plug connected to the sensors via a lead. Furthermore, high-altitude aircraft flight entails the need to heat the probe, for example, by means of a resistive heating element embedded in the probe. The supply of electricity to the resistive element is provided, at the probe end, by an electrical socket and, at the aircraft end, by a lead ending in an electrical plug connected to the electrical socket.
Hitherto, the two plugs, the electrical plug and the pneumatic plug, have been connected independently. It is a relatively simple matter to detect a poor electrical connection. It is, for example, possible to measure the resistance of an electrical component, in this instance the resistive heating element, situated in the probe, via the electric lead.
Checking that the pneumatic plug has been correctly connected to its socket is far more difficult to do. A pneumatic measurement will not provide assurance that the pneumatic plug is correctly connected. Another option is to check the electrical continuity of the body of the pneumatic plug with respect to the body of its socket. This option is generally incompatible with aeronautical standards which dictate that pneumatic connectors must be electrically insulated.